Australian Citizenship Proposed Changes - My View

The Australian Government is making changes in its Citizenship Test to strengthen the pathway to acquire its Citizenship. According to new propsed system now the candidates wishing to apply for an Australian Citizenship will have to wait for 4 years of being a Permanent Resident as opposed to 1 year before. Which i think is a very good move. The candidates will now also have to face a more stricter exam than before by answering question about Australian Values and Responsibilities of a Citizen. That is again a great move in my view as one has to learn core values of the nation in which they intend to live for rest of their lives.However according to new proposed system one will also require to pass an English Language Test (IELTS) and acquire a score of 6 Bands which will prove one to be a Competent user testing their Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking skills. I do think having a competent level English is a must to live in Australia but i highly disagree to test an applicants English skills at the time of Citizenship Application. Any person who has migrated to Australia has already passed an English Language Test at the time of entry into Australia in their respective country.

For a student to apply for their respective Permanent Residency they are required to sit this Test again after spending their time in Australia for 2-4 years in studies. So with this new changes they will have to appear again for same test for nothing. They have to sit again because these test certificates are only valid for 2 years. It is point less to test someone on English Language competancy over and over again as if their English skills will fall down over the a period of time.

For someone who has migrated on spouse visa (subclass 309 & 100) - They must be tested at the time of entry into Australia. Till date we had no such arrangement of testing English skills of such migrants even at entry point. So why now when they have spent time already in Australia and have adopted to this lifestyle ? It is ridiculous to test someone on the language efficiency at the last stage of their application to become a citizen and not at the entry stage.

For someone who has migrated on skilled visa and have acquired Permanent Residency afterwards has also to be tested at the time of entry into Australia and not at the last stage when they apply for an Australian Citizenship.

I hope present Malcolm Turnbull government will have some sense and overturn this propsed requirement of testing English Language Skills on applicants at various stages of the migration process and test it only once at the entry stage. I do believe in having core Australian Values as essential in migrating to Australia permanently but you cant test people over and over again on English Language skills for that. It is just plain ridiculous.